After The Storm
by anniesophia
Summary: The story of Meredith and Derek's life after the big storm hits Seattle. (AU/my version of season 10)
1. After The Storm

Chapter One

"I have survived a bomb, a drowning, a shooting, a plane crash, and a birth in a super storm. I can survive these next couple months with this baby. I can do it. I am Meredith Grey." Meredith splashes cold water on her face to wake up as she mumbles this statement to try and get her through the day. She gets out of bed and goes over to the crib but notices something very unusual. Bailey is still sleeping and its already 5:45.

"Hmmm...Derek..I think something is wrong with our baby.." Meredith gets all worrisome and runs over to the bathroom where Derek is brushing his teeth.

"Honey, whats wrong?"

"He is still sleeping...he never sleeps in this late. Something has to be wrong."

Derek goes over to the crib, and picks Bailey up.

"He is fine, Mer. See, he's breathing. Don't worry, hes probably just tired from all these nights of no sleep, alright? Enjoy it while it lasts."

"Okay..." Meredith takes Bailey from Derek's arms and puts him back in his crib.

"I like this whole 'staying at home with the children' stuff but I really need to cut someone open. Its been more than a week Derek. You know how hard this is?"

"You're on maternity leave. I can't just stay home from work one day and let you go into a surgery. You know better."

"Fine. You're going to regret this." Meredith looks at Derek the way she always does when she's angry at him.

She smiles and gives into his grin. They come together and kiss each other like they used to.

"You know...its only 5:55. You've got ten minutes to spare. I mean both kids are still sleeping. When do we ever get that opportunity? Come on Derek." Meredith jumps on the bed patting the spot next to her for Derek.

"Okay, just a quicky though." Derek climbs into bed and goes under the sheets.

Just when they're almost undressed Bailey starts crying.

"You've got to be kidding me, Bailey. You know better! Ughhh..rain check?" Meredith comes out from underneath the covers and puts her robe on.

"Of course, Mer. I'm going to be late anyway. I'll see you tonight, alright?"

Meredith takes Bailey out from his crib and holds him in her arms to calm him down. "I was actually thinking of coming to visit the hospital today with Zola and Bailey."

"Okay, I'll see you then. Love you." Derek kisses Bailey on the head, and Meredith on the cheek.

Chapter Two

Meredith looks across the ER with Bailey in her arms trying to find Derek. She got a call from Derek's mother about Zola. Meredith would drop Zola off with his mom in the morning to help them get settled in with Bailey for awhile.

"Mer! What are you doing here with Bailey? You're suppose to be resting at home!" Christina comes up behind Meredith and pinches Bailey's soft pudgy newborn cheeks.

"Aw, my little nephew is too cute. Why are you even here? You can't come back to work for another couple weeks if not a month."

"Zola...Carolyn called..something happened...I need Derek...find me Derek NOW!" Meredith knew something was wrong.

"Oh-okay, okay calm down, Mer, it'll be ok, I promise. Derek just got out of surgery, I'll go find him, okay? Go sit down. I'll be right back."

Meredith goes over to the waiting area with Bailey sound asleep in her arms. She puts him back into the car seat holder. She rocks him back in forth until he falls asleep.

"Meredith, what happened?" Derek comes running. "Whats wrong?"

"I don't know, I went to bring Zola to your moms house this morning, then I got home, and put Bailey down for a nap. Later I got a call from your mother saying something happened then the cell phone reception was lost. I tried calling her back but it went right to voice mail. I thought she meant she'd come to our house but she didn't so I came here. Derek something happened and I don't know what to do."

Meredith started crying. She's been stressed with the baby, getting little to no hours of sleep. She was a mother, and she didn't want anything to happen to her child. Derek put his arms around her. She was shaking and sobbing but started to calm down with the touch of Derek surrounding her.

Around the corner, an ambulance appears, and Nicole the paramedic comes out to give information to April and Dr. Bailey. It's her, Zola. She comes out of the rig and is put right into trauma room 1. Carolyn comes out last and follows everyone into the room.

"Zola Grey Shepard, age 2 1/2. Appears to have trauma to the head and abdomen. The grandma said she fell down the stairs while chasing after the dog." Nicole gives information to the doctors as they try and work to stabilize her.

"Oh my god, I took my eye off of her for one second I swear. It was one little second. Oh my god. What did I do...where is Derek and Meredith? What am I going to say to them? Are they here?"

"Ms. Shepard, I'm going to have to ask you to leave, we have this under control. Derek and Meredith don't know Zola is here, but yes they are here, by the waiting room. We have this, ok? You have to trust us. Go and tell them what happened. It'll be alright. We are the best doctors around and will do everything we can for Zola, ok?" Dr. Bailey assures Carolyn that Zola is in good hands.

Carolyn goes out to find Meredith and Derek over by the waiting area.

"Mom, what happened? Where the hell is Zola?"

"Honey, I am so sorry, I looked away for one sec-Derek where are you going? You can't go into the room, Dr. Bailey said she would do everything." Derek marches passed her and goes to the window of the room.

Meredith gets up and looks Carolyn in the eyes.

"What the hell happened? Tell me she is ok. Tell me she is not in that trauma room right now. Tell me damnit!"

Carolyn tells Meredith what happens. She is crying and yelling. Derek comes back, tears in his eyes.

"Mother, leave. NOW! Go or else I will throw you out of this hospital."

"Derek, please." He collapses into her shoulders, crying. He hugs her and apologizes.

Bailey comes out of the trauma room and walks over to Derek, Meredith, and Carolyn.

"She suffered some head trauma and we're going to have to do surgery on her abdomen. Don't worry, her head is fine. She's responding very well and doesn't need a consult. If that happens to be the case, Nelson will be doing it, sorry Derek but you know the rules. We are taking her up to surgery right now.

Two hours pass and Derek, Meredith, and Carolyn are all quite, waiting on the edge of their seats. Little Bailey is sound asleep in the cae seat holder next to Meredith. Finally they see Dr. Bailey come out of the OR doors. She takes off her scrub cap, and comes over to deliver the news, good or bad.

"The surgery couldn't have gone any better. She's in recovery right now, and should be fine in the next couple of days. You can go see her now. She should be waking up any minute."

"Thanks so much, Bailey." Meredith gets up with a big smile. "See, this is why we named little Bailey after you. You're just the best there is." Meredith gives Bailey a big hug and lets her hold little Bailey.


	2. Vacation Time

Chapter Three

The next couple of weeks go by very slowly. Finally its December and the Grey-Shepard family are headed on a vacation to the Bahamas. Zola has recovered quickly, and Bailey has grown so fast. They're all so excited to finally go out of town for some real family time. Two weeks without going to a hospital and saving lives-they just don't know if they can make it. They're all packed and ready to go to the airport. Christina drives and says her goodbyes, while Derek unloads the car. Three hours later and they're on the plane almost 3,000 miles away from home.

"Derek, are you sure about this?" Meredith gets all worried that things back home will be chaotic without them.

"Well, its going to be weird but we're a family, and we need some alone time. Sure, the hospital is like home, but sometimes you need a break from home. It'll be great and we will have a fabulous time, okay?"

"Okay." Meredith says with a bit of hesitation but she knows that Derek is right.

"Hello! This is your pilot speaking! I hope everyone is having a great time flying with Flamingo Air! I would like to ask for everyone to stay seated and get your seat belts on as we begin our descent to the beautiful Bahamas. Its going to get a little bit bumpy but we will be o the ground in no time. Have a lovely time and fly again with Flamingo Air! Thank you!"

Derek squeezes Meredith's hand as they get all situated for landing. Bailey has been asleep the whole plane ride, and Zola is distracted by a movie. This was Derek's first time flying since the crash, and Meredith's fourth.

All of a sudden the plane gets hit hard with the turbulence and Bailey wakes up crying along with four other babies.

"Shh, its okay Bailey. Mommas got you. Go back to sleep, okay? Shhh." Meredith wraps her arm around Bailey to calm hom down and eventually falls right back to sleep.

Derek looks as Meredith, "See honey, I knew you would be the perfect mother." He kisses her on the lips.

"Hello again, this is your pilot speaking. We have reached 10,000 feet and would like to ask for all electronics to be shut off including our televisions. We should be landing in about ten minutes. Thank You."

"Okay, Zola time to say bye-bye to The Wiggles."  
"Bye-bye-bye" Zola waves to the T.V. and Derek turns it off along with his and Meredith's phone, pagers, and iPads.

They get off of the plane, pack everything into a rental car, and off to Atlantis for everyone's first vacation, and Bailey's first Christmas.

It's a happy next couple of days for the Grey-Shepard family. And then it's Christmas Eve. This is all so new to them. Meredith and Derek have never had a Christmas together that didn't start somewhere in the hospital and it just felt weird. But they went along with it and went out to a nice dinner and just came together as a family.

Christmas morning came around but that only meant they had to pack all their things and leave.  
"Derek, can't we just stay one more day? It's going to be crazy at the airport and who knows what's going to happen. Our flight could get cancelled for all we know."  
"No, we have to get back. As much I don't want to leave, I do have patients back home who want a Christmas miracle and I'm not there to provide it." I'm sorry Mer but unfortunately this can't last forever. Now come on, lets get the kids dressed and head down for breakfast."  
"Okay, fine. You're right anyway. Now come over here and give me a kiss. Derek comes over and him and Meredith have an intimate moment until Zola wakes up.  
"Ew mommy and daddy. Hehehe." Zola runs off into the bathroom and hides.  
Derek and Meredith look at each other then quietly go into the bathroom and see where Zola is; behind the curtain of the bathtub. They both give a nod ok the head then expose the curtain to Zola.  
"BOO!" Meredith and Derek scream at the same time.  
Zola jumps up then stars laughing.  
"I'm going to get you, you little monster!" Derek picks up Zola and they have a moment like everything they have to worry about it gone. That feeling where the only thing that matters is what's in front of you and everything just disappears.

Meredith wakes little Bailey up, everyone gets dressed, and they all go down for breakfast before having to pack up and head back home.  
"Derek, I don't want our kids to grow up. What if they become sole crazy teenagers who don't listen to us because their mom isn't like all the other mommies? I just want these types of moments to last forever."  
"Mer, we have plenty of time before we have to worry about them becoming teenagers. Plus you are an amazing mommy that all the other children in the world are jealous of that their mommy isn't Meredith Grey. Okay?"  
"Okay..." Derek comes over and hugs Meredith.  
"I love you."  
"I love you, too."

After breakfast, they head up to their room to pack. Derek gathers all the suitcases and puts them on the luggage cart.  
"Alright, now we need a family picture." Derek hands the camera to the bell hop and takes Bailey out of his car seat.  
Meredith holds Zola, and Derek holds Bailey. Everything is perfect.  
The picture is taken and they look back once then off to the airport.  
"Bye-bye-bye!" Zola waves to the resort as it starts disappearing from her sight.  
"You know it's going to be crazy at the airport Derek. We're going to have to go through all those lines and I don't know if Bailey is going last that long."  
"Calm down, Mer. I've got it covered."  
"What?"  
"Don't worry about it. It's all taken care of. Just relax. Okay?"  
"You drive me up a wall sometime, you know that?" Meredith can't help but smile and kiss Derek until the car stops and they're at the airport.  
They get out of the car and Meredith just looks at Derek.  
"No, you did not."  
"Yes I did."  
"Why? We could've just taken a regular plane. Why do you have to be all fancy?"  
"Because you love me, that's why."  
"Yes I do." They kiss once again then collect their things and get their children on the jet.  
Derek arranged a private jet for them to take home to avoid all the chaos in the airport.  
"Merry Christmas to my two beautiful children and my amazingly gorgeous, and extremely talented wife."  
Derek hands Meredith a bag and she just can't help but smile. Before she opens it, she grabs a bag for Derek to open.  
"Open yours first."  
"No, you open it first."  
"Fine, how about we both open it at the same time, okay? One, two, three!"  
"Hahaha oh no way!" Meredith starts laughing because Derek got her a new scrub cap and Derek adds in as well because Meredith got Derek a new scrub hat too. But there's more in Meredith's bag.  
She opens an envelope only to discover a reservation for two at the Archfield Hotel back in Seattle for the night.  
"But what about the kids?"  
"Don't worry, I've got that covered too."  
"But we've never left Bailey alone before. And Zola will be upset. I don't really think this is a good idea."  
"You need to stop worrying. Lizzie is coming to watch the kids. She has four of her own. She knows what to do. Plus she hasn't even gotten to see Bailey. We need a night out. Just the two of us."  
"Lizzie though? Really Derek?"  
"Yes, really. She was begging me to come see the kids so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity."  
"Fine. You win."

They arrive in Seattle and land safely.  
They get their luggage and get into a car where Christina is.  
"Surprise! Welcome back to the lovely Seattle. Wow look at your tans. You totally didn't miss anything here. Only boring, basic surgeries. I should've gone with you. Now, tell me all about your trip."

The car leaves the airport and they talk about the adventures of the Grey-Shepard's first family vacation with many more to come.

Chapter Four

After getting unpacked, Derek and Meredith just lay and relax on their bed. Bailey and Zola are both sleeping and they finally can just relax after a long day flying.

"Remember, Lizzie is coming today so we can have our night out." Derek turns to Meredith and smiles.

"Oh right I totally forgot..you know we should cancel. What if something happens to the kids and we're not here to help?"

"Meredith, my sister has kids. She knows what to do believe it or not. She is capable of taking care of her niece and nephew, alright? We are going to the hotel and enjoying it without the kids. Don't worry, okay? You have to trust Lizzie."

"Okay..fine." Meredith turns away from Derek but comes back as soon as he wraps his arms around her.

They just cuddle and lay there in silence. Just when they're about to fall asleep Bailey is crying.

"See, this is why we need to go out every once in a while. You stay, I'll go check on him." Derek gets up and gives Meredith this look of 'I told you so'.

Derek manages to calm Bailey down and comes back into the bedroom. He's about to take his clothes off when he looks in his bed.

"Zola, baby, what are you doing up, silly? Its time for a nap."

Meredith walks back in the room, "She wanted to come cuddle with her mommy and daddy. Is that such a crime?"

"Gah, you two are so cute. Come on, lets all take a nap together." Derek comes into the bed, with Zola in the middle an Meredith on the other side.

An hour later and the doorbell rings.

"I'll get it. It's probably Lizzie." Derek gets up and goes over to the door.

"Well good morning to you, sunshine. How've you been?" Lizzie comes in, and hugs her brother.

"We were taking a nap. We're all doing well. Listen, thank you for coming. Zola is excited to see you."

Meredith comes out of the bedroom with Zola. "Look who it is, Zola! Hey, Lizzie, you know we really don't have to leave. It's totally okay if we all just stay."

"No, Meredith. We are going. End of discussion." Derek gets Bailey out of his crib and lets Lizzie hold him.

"Oh my gosh, he is perfect!" Lizzie holds him then he starts to cry. "Oh, Bailey, it's okay. I'm your aunt. Shhhh, go back to sleep."

Bailey stops crying immediately. "See, Mer, we have nothing to worry about. Lizzie knows what she's doing." Derek comes back and kisses Meredith on the cheek. "Now, go get packed, okay?"

Meredith smiles at Lizzie and walks away into their bedroom to pack. Lizzie puts Bailey back into his crib and plays with Zola.

"Okay, so Zola eats at about 6 and goes to bed around 8:30. She likes to watch T.V for one episode of The Wiggles, then she'll want you to read her a bedtime story. Don't forget to brush her teeth, too. Oh, and Bailey will have a bottle in about 15 minutes then want some baby food so you can give him that. Zola likes her giraffe and Bailey has his blanket and pacifier." Meredith says all this while Derek is trying to get her out of the house. "Call us later!"

"No, don't call us unless its an emergency, Lizzie, thanks you." Derek is getting annoyed by Meredith but gets her out the door and into the car. "Okay, starting now there is no baby talk. Just you and me talk, okay? I want to enjoy this night with my beautiful wife and no one else."

"And this is why I love you, Derek Shepard." Meredith looks at Derek, and kisses him on the cheek.

They arrive at the hotel and go into their room. There's a bottle of champaign sitting on the bed, along with a present for Meredith.

"Go ahead and open it." Derek is smiling at Meredith while she opens the gift.

"Oh Derek, its beautiful!" Meredith opens up the box to find a Tiffany & Co. necklace inside.

"I know you don't really wear jewelry but I got it anyway. Here, let me put it on." Derek comes, moves Meredith's hair and puts the necklace on. "It's beautiful, like you." He kisses her and she kisses him, then they get undressed and go into the bed and for one night they forget all about their lives and just focus on each other.


	3. Back To Work

"Okay Bailey, are you ready to go to the daycare center for the first time? It might seem a bit scary at first, but the kids are very nice, plus your sister will be there the whole time to look after you. And mommy and daddy will be near by in case you want to see us, okay little guy?" Meredith squats next to Bailey who is eating his breakfast. He's only 7 months but is ready to stay at the daycare while Meredith and Derek work.

"Mer, are you guys almost ready to leave? I've got a surgery in an hour." Derek yells while running down the stairs.

"Yup! Can you get Zola's bag? I've got Bailey's." Meredith grabs Bailey and his bag and heads out to the car with Derek behind and they drive off to the hospital.

"Alright, little guy, welcome to your home away from home!" Derek says as he takes Bailey out of his car seat. "This is the start of many new adventures for you! Are you ready?" Bailey just looks at Derek and smiles. "Thats my boy!" He kisses him on the cheek, and the four of them head into the Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital for the first of many times.

"Oh my gosh, Mer. You wouldn't believe the surgery I just did for the last 15 hours. It was amazing. Ah, I'll talk to you later, I'm going to go sleep for a while. Oh, hey little guy, gimme five!" Christina holds up her hand but gets nothing in return. "Oh, fine. Leave me hanging. I see how it is, Bailey. I'm watching you. Bye, Mer, bye Derek." She walks past them and into the on-call room.

"Wow, someone is happy." Derek looks shocked to see Christina all cheerful and perky.

"Well, thats what happens when you're practically living at the hospital..."

"Yeah, I guess...but we don't need that. We have the best two things in the world right here, plus I have you and you have me."

"Yeah, that and the fact that we're partial owners of this hospital and can do any surgery we want. But, mostly the fact that I've got all I need right here." Meredith smiles and kisses Derek on the lips.

The elevator door opens and Derek smiles at Bailey. "This elevator is very special. It's where I proposed to your mommy." Derek looks over at Meredith who is holding Zola and gives her his look.

"It was very romantic. You, sir, better do something just like that to the woman of your dreams. You've got very high standards if you want to beat your father."

"Hahaha, very funny Mer, but also very true, mister. But don't worry, I'll teach you the ropes." Derek looks at Bailey who is just staring into space.

They get to the day care and its time to say goodbye.

"Alright Zola, you'll take care of your brother, okay? Mommy and daddy will come to see you guys at lunch if everything goes well, okay? Love you." Derek kisses Zola on the cheek and looks at Meredith.

"Okay, love you Zola. We will see you soon. And for my little man, you have fun and play nice with your sister! Love you both!" Meredith hugs Zola and gives her a kiss, while she hands the day care lady Bailey and their bag.

"We'll page you if we can't make it up, alright? Thank you. Page us if anything happens, okay? Thanks again! Bye-bye, cuties." Meredith and Derek wave then hold hands down the hall and into the elevator.

"Wow, I'm very impressed with how you handled everything. You didn't tell the day care lady what to do, or anything." Derek smiles at Meredith and gives her a round of applause.

"Oh hush. I knew that if I went all crazy on her they would do something crazy to out children in spite of me plus I know how to control myself, Derek." Meredith smirks at him and looks away.

"Oh come here and give me a kiss. You are so cute when you're annoyed with me." Derek moves over to Meredith and kisses her on the neck, then the cheek and then the lips.

Meredith breaks free from the kiss and looks at her watch. "Derek, don't you have your surgery in five minutes?"

"No, not till 8:25." Derek looks at his watch, "Damn it, its 8:20. I gotta go, I'll see you for lunch, love you." Derek gets off the elevator and runs down to the O.R.

"Dr. Bailey, hey! Wait up, fill me in on everything. Any good surgeries soon that I can take on?" Meredith follows Dr. Bailey into the attendees lounge and puts on her scrubs.

"Nice to see you all tan and what not. Welcome back, Dr. Grey. You can go find your own surgeries to attend to. I have a whipple, a bowl resection, and oh I guess you can take my surgery at nine. I'm busy anyway. I'm off to the O.R. Have fun, and don't you dare take my patients." Bailey smiles and walks out of the room with sass.

"Okay then…I guess its just me." Meredith talks to herself while she goes through her bag to find her new scrub cap from Derek. "Ah, here it is. Wow, I really need to stop talking to myself…" She splashes some cold water on her face and leaves the room to go find her interns.

"She gave me an appendectomy Seriously? Seriously...Wilson, are you ready to redeem yourself from your first appy? Are you willing to give it another shot? Wait, don't answer that, you're doing it anyway. Okay, you'll be on O.R. 2, go prep you patient. Have any questions come see me, okay?"

"Yes ma'am. Oh, how's Bailey doing?" Wilson takes the chart with her new patient.

"Wilson, go to your patients room, now please." Meredith looks at her with anger.

"She is totally Medusa.." Some intern whispers behind Meredith, and she turns around as they run off.

"He is fine, thank you. And if I hear someone calling me Medusa again they will be put on scut for months, is that clear? Now go prep." Wilson runs off and Meredith goes to find Alex or Christina.

"Alex, wait up. Are you and Wilson really a thing?" Meredith tries to catch up with him as he eats an apple.

"Maybe, maybe not. Why? I don't ask you about your personal live, do I?"

"Well... occasionally but thats not the point. She just...oh I don't know, she needs help and if you two are a thing then try and help her, okay? She will be an amazing surgeon one day but she needs a mentor, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, go on. I've got stuff to do and patients to see." Alex leaves Meredith all alone and goes up to the NICU.

"Fine, me too.I've got plenty of patients to see too." Meredith yells at Alex as he walks away.

"Hey, Mer whats all that about?" Christina comes up eating a bag of potato chips.

"Bailey took all the patients and I have nothing to do. She gave me an appy to do so I gave it to Wilson. I think I'll go down to the pit."

"Come and eat with me first?" Christina joins arms with Meredith and they go to the cafeteria for lunch.

Meredith's pager goes off. "Oh, that must be Derek. We're going to go check on Bailey and Zola to make sure everything is going great. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Yeah, okay, have fun with your cute little monsters. I'll be here all alone looking up fun stuff about surgeries because thats my job!"

"Oh shush, I have cute little monsters I have to go see." Meredith walks out of the cafeteria and finds Derek waiting by the O.R. board.

"How'd your surgery go?" Meredith comes up and kisses Derek on the cheek.

"Oh it went great up until the point where he started to have a heart attack."

"Oh my gosh, why didn't you page Christina?"

"Because, Russell is head of cardio so they paged him."

"Did he make it?"

"Yeah, but his brain swelled up a bit so we have to just wait and see."

"Well, good thing we're going to see our babies."

"Oh yes, lets go." Derek smiles at Meredith and kisses her. "So, what did you do today?"

"Oh you know, just wonder around the hospital with nothing to do at all. Bailey took all of the patients and wouldn't share any of them with me. Everyone thinks that just because I had a baby and went through a tramatic 'in the dark surgery' and almost died I'm not capable of doing my job. Well its been roughly 7 months and I am ready to get back on the wagon. Ugh, it drives me crazy."

"You're so cute when you're all mad." Derek kisses her neck and then her lips but Meredith pulls away.

"Derek, I'm serious. No one will let me do anything. I'm better off at home with the kids."

"No, don't say that. I promise you will have an awesome surgery soon, its just a bit slow right now. Plus, we are going to go see our beautiful children right now and thats all that matters, okay?" Derek takes Meredith's hand and they walk into the day care center's doors.

Meredith sees Zola playing with little Tucker, Bailey's little boy, and goes over to them. "Hey Zo, hey Tuck! How's it going?" Meredith picks Zola up and holds her. "Where's your little brother at, huh?"

Derek comes over with Bailey in his arms. "Well, look who I found!" Bailey starts smiling at the sight of his mother.

"Aw, it's my little boy, how ya doing cutie?" Meredith switch with Derek, and takes little Bailey.

"Ah, I love this. Getting to see the two cutest kids in the planet along with the best husband ever. This is all just perfect." Meredith looks at Derek holding Zola, then looks down at Bailey, and smiles but it goes away right when her pager goes off.

"Damn it, it's my patient I have to go...Derek..here, take Bailey." Meredith gives Bailey to Derek as he puts Zola down. She kisses all three and runs out of the day care to go see her patient.

"What the hell happened?" Meredith runs into her patients room as they're coding. "Hand me the paddles, and charge to 300." Meredith shocks the patient, and they come back to life with a weak pulse.

"We have a pulse. It's weak, but it's there. Alright, people we all need to keep an eye on Mrs. Klein for the next 24 hours, okay?" The interns all shake their heads in agreement and Meredith leaves to meet Christina.

"Hey."

"Hey." Christina grabs a chart for her patient and takes a bite out of her apple.

"So, I was thinking about going out to dinner tonight with Derek..and if you wanted to come you can."

"Meredith, I'm fine. I don't need to be going on dates with you and McDreamy. I can stay and watch the kids. It's fine. Go have fun." Christina walks away and throws out her apple. Owen passes by but she tries to ignore him.

"Christina, please can we talk?" Owen follows her into the on-call room and shuts the door.

"Look, we've had this conversation before and I don't know what else to do, Owen. I really don't. I can't give you what you want. I'm sorry, but I just can't."

"Christina, please. I told you that you are what I want. I don't care about kids anymore. I don't need them. I need you. Please. Can we just start over?"

Christina starts to talk but her pager goes off. "I'm sorry, I have to go it's a code blue. We'll talk later, okay?" She runs out of the room and the door closes behind her.

Owen just sits on the bed and sighs then the door opens. It's Meredith.

"Hey.."

"Oh, I was just leaving, go ahead." Owen gets up to let Meredith rest on the bed.

"No, it's okay. I came in here to talk to you about Christina. She just hasn't been the same ever since..well you know..and I think she is just now getting her life back together. Just don't screw with her, okay? I know that you love her, but you have to understand. She's been through a lot and I think right now it's just best to give her some space. She'll open up eventually, and when she does she'll come to you. She just needs to know that she's ready and you have to respect that, okay?" Meredith turns around and leaves the room.

Owen just stays in the bed and sits up. He rubs his eyes and eventually falls asleep.

"Do you want to go out tonight? Christina said she would watch Zola and Bailey for us."

"I don't think tonight is a good idea. I just lost a close patient of mine, and I just want to head home and sleep. But we'll do it some other time soon, okay? Derek looks at Meredith and kisses her on the cheek. "Now, lets go get our babies and head home." He smiles as the elevator door opens and they both head to the day care to get their children and head home for the night.

"Hi, baby. How was your first day with your little brother?" Meredith picks Zola up and gets her baby bag filled with toys.

Derek comes from the nursery and gets Bailey set up in his car seat and the four of them head to the car. They get home and get ready for bed.

"Hey, I didn't know you were home already?" Meredith sees Christina in the living room and sits down on the couch.

"I talked to Owen. I just said to relax and let you be for a while. You need space. You need time to figure out what you want, okay? I hope you're not mad at me for doing so..."

"No, it's fine. I'm gunna head up to bed. I've got a early surgery in the morning. Night Mer." Christina heads up to bed and Meredith turns all the lights off in the living room and kitchen.

"Night." She heads into her room and gets into bed.

"Ah, I'm so tired." Derek climbs into bed and wraps his arms around Meredith.

"Well, this was a good, successful day, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah, one of many to come." Derek kisses Meredith and they fall asleep wrapped in each other for a nice, peaceful sleep.


	4. Reminder of the Past

Weeks have passed by and the Shepherd-Grey family are living a happy, steady life. Zola's 5th birthday is just around the corner along with the two year anniversary of the plane crash, and Lexie and Mark's death.

"We will be holding a memorial service for Lexie Grey and Mark Sloan. This week will be tough but we can all get through it." Owen finishes up a short speech to the staff about the plans for the upcoming week's events as everyone disassembled and heads back to work.

"Hey, Cristina wait up!" Meredith catches up and goes onto the elevator with Zola in her hands. "Hey, so we're all going to the cemetery on Friday after work to Lexie and Mark's grave so if you wanted to go just let me know and you can tag along, okay?" She puts Zola down and takes her hand.

"Yeah, I'll go if I don't have a surgery. But yeah, sure. Count me in. I'll be down in the pit, okay? See you there. Bye, Zo." Cristina gets off the elevator and heads into the lounge to change into her scrubs.

As she leaves, Derek gets into the elevator with Bailey.

"Well look who it is, Miss. Zola." Meredith kisses Derek on the cheek. "Hey, so I invited Cristina to go with us to the cemetery tomorrow. Is Callie and Arizona going?"

"I think so, and I think Owen is going too. You know, they really need to talk."

"I know they do. It's just...you know Cristina. She just needs more time, thats it."

The elevator opens and they all head down to the day care to say their goodbyes.

"Love you, Zo. Love you Bailey. Be good. See you at lunch." Meredith hugs Zola and Derek gives Bailey to the attending and they get back on the elevator.

The next couple days go by in slow motion. It's been rough for everyone around the hospital.

Meredith puts a black velvet dress on Zola, a little tux onesie on Bailey, and dresses herself in a navy blue dress. Derek comes down the hall wearing a suit with a black tie. He takes Bailey from Meredith's hands and they all head out to the car for the cemetery.

"Are you going to speak?" Meredith asks Derek as he backs out of the driveway.

"Well, I think I should...and you should too." He looks over at Meredith and gives her a look.

"Okay, okay I will. Oh hey we have to pick Cristina up on the way." Meredith tells Derek as she gives Bailey and Zola each a cup of juice.

Derek pulls into the firehouse station and Meredith gets out of the car.

"I'll go in and get her. Be right back." She smiles and waves at Zo and Bailey, unlocks the door and heads on in.

"Cristina, come on. We're waiting for you. Cristina?" She walks up the stairs but doesn't see her.

"Hello...where are you?" She opens up the bathroom door to a surprise.

"Owen? I thought-"

"Oh, Meredith..sorry. Uh..whats up?" Owen puts on his belt and walks out of the bathroom.

"I thought Cristina was living here?"

"Oh..yeah she is."

Meredith gets this confused look on her face "wait, so you two are a thing again?"

"Oh, no..I mean honestly I have no idea."

"So..then why are you here? And where's Cristina?"

"Oh..well I had my black suit here so I came to get it and took a shower without really thinking..um yeah."

"But where's Cristina? I'm suppose to be picking her up for the memorial service."

"She was here 15 minutes ago. She said she had to go get something maybe? I'm not too sure. But she'll probably be back any minute though."

"Hmm..I'll call her. You don't think-" Meredith takes out her phone and dials Cristina's number.

"No..she wouldn't."

"But she would. She's Cristina. She really woul-Hey, where are you?"

Cristina picks up the phone, "Um...I had to go get something. I'll be home it a bit."

"Cristina, I'm at your house right now with Owen standing right next to me. You didn't go to the hospital did you?"

"Umm..yeah nope."

"Don't lie to me. I know you did. I'm coming to pick you up now. Come on, please do this for me. Please."

"Fine..but I have a surgery in like two hours so I need to be-"

"Shush, you surgery junkie. Have someone else do it."

"But it's a-"

"No, Cristina, now I'm getting a dress and coming now. See you in five." Meredith hangs up the phone and looks at Owen.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing..it's just the way you two talk is entertaining."

"Oh hush. Are you coming with us or not?"

"Oh, I mean yeah I guess."

"Great, then let's go. We're going to be late." They both head down the stairs and into the car.

"Owen?" Derek has a confused look on his face. "You're not Cristina."

"No, no I'm not. She escaped to the hospital. We're going to go pick her up now."

"So you two are a thing again?"

"NO" Meredith and Owen say at the same time then look at each other.

"No, well not really. I don't know. We're talking again though so that has to count for something."

Derek pulls up to the E.R and Cristina comes out and gets into the back.

"Here, put this on." Meredith hands her a dark blue dress and she starts to undress and switch into it.

The rest of the car ride is filled with awkward silence and Meredith and Derek look at each other with a stumped expression on their faces, then Zola starts to laugh at the book she's reading.

"Is that funny, Zo? Cristina looks over and makes a high pitched baby sound to go along with Zo's noise.

Finally they reached to cemetery. They all unload and close the doors. There's a big group of people-doctors and citizens all sitting, waiting for the ceremony to start.

Callie and Arizona are waving them down, with little Sophia in their hands. Next to them is Jackson and April, then Bailey and Ben, and the list goes on. They go and sit down next to them and talk quietly amongst themselves.

"Owen, are you speaking first? Or what's the plan?" Derek whispers to Owen and everyone listens in to see what the plan is.

"Oh, yeah, I'm making an introduction and then I'll hand it off to someone. Who wants to start?" Meredith?"

"Everyone looks at Meredith and expects her not to hesitate. "Uh-um..I-"

"Yes, she'd love to. Then I'll say something, and Callie, want to go after that?" Derek looks at Meredith the gets a nod from Callie."

"Yeah, that sounds good."

"Okay then, I guess we should start then." Owen looks at his watch which reads 10 o'clock. He gets up and heads on stage to the podium.

"Hello, and good morning. Thank you all for attending this memorial to honor two very important people in our lives: Lexie Grey and Mark Sloan. Two years ago, these two remarkable people went on a plane along with Meredith Grey, Derek Shepherd, Cristina Yang, and Arizona Robbins. Unfortunately the plane later crashed and we lost these two unforgettable people. We will forever honor them not only with our hospital name but will always think of them to remind ourselves of the great times with Mark and Lexie. I would now like for us to all have a moment of silence to honor these brave people." Owen has tears in his eyes as he bows his head to take part in the silence.

Two minutes go by and he lifts up his head and speaks again, "And now, I would like to welcome on stage Meredith Grey to speak." Owen gives her a round of applause and gets down from the stage as Meredith takes his spot.

"Oh gosh...where to start? When I first met Lexie I had no intention of getting close to her in the way I eventually did. She'd try and try to talk to me and get to know me but I would just shut her down and not let her in. I don't know what I was thinking when I did that though, because Lexie was the best sister I could've asked for. I-I just loved her with all my heart and I-" Meredith burst into tears and could barely talk. "I'm sorry, where was I?" She wipes the tears but her lips quiver and more start to come. Derek comes on stage, and hugs Meredith. "Come on, go sit down. I can do this, come on, go." He whispers to Meredith and she gets off, wipes her tears, and sits next to Christina. She grabs Bailey and cradles him in her arms until she calms down. Meanwhile Derek clears his throat and takes a pause to figure out what he should say.

"These are very difficult times for all of us. Whether you're a nurse who played doctor with Mark in the on call room, or a resident who was there with Lexie on her first solo surgery; we are all here to honor not just two one of a kind doctors, but amazing people who have made an imprint on every person they interacted with. Mark Sloan was my best friend. Always has been and will continue to be. Lexie Grey was my sister-and-law and will always be. These two people may have left us, but will always be here through the hard times and the good times. I am so glad to be a part of this ceremony and to be able to come up here and share the greatness of Mark and Lexie. You both will never be forgotten. Thank you."

Derek steps away from the podium and everyone starts to clap. He gets off stage and goes to hug Callie, who goes up to speak next.

After everyone does their part, they all head back to the hospital to go on with their duties as a doctor. Meredith and Derek go home, change, pack the kids stuff for the rest of the day and head to the hospital.

"What do you think is going on with Owen and Cristina?" Derek starts a conversation but Meredith looks at him and shakes her head.

"You think I know? She didn't even tell me they're talking again. I always ask her if anything has changed and she always says no. I have no idea if they're having some secret relationship or something but honestly I'm just going to stop asking. If she has something important she wants to tell me, then she can go ahead and do it. I'm sick of being lied to, you know?

Derek nods his head and smiles at Meredith, "You're so cute when you're venting. It's adorable."

"Did you just listen to anything I just said or are you just going to pretend you heard everything?"

"Oh shush. Will you get Bailey? I can get Zola and their bag." They arrive at the hospital, unload the car and get into their normal routine again.


End file.
